Bad juju on a fishing boat - Bananas

Have you ever heard the story about Bananas on a fishing boat? One of the sports longest running traditions is still going strong, but who was the guy who decided that Bananas on boats are a cardinal sin?

Firstly, if you have no idea what we're talking about. Just try taking a Banana on your next fishing trip. If you do this, be prepared for your fishing trip to become a 'sitting' trip. Because all that will happen, is you'll sit around on the jetty for hours and never get one single bite. Don't tempt fate and try fishing with a banana on a boat either, the boat might just sink. Such is the myth, legend, superstition surrounding the yummy yellow fruit and the pastime of fishing.

Bananas are bad luck, that part is easy (and a proven fact by countless anglers around the world). But finding the origins of such wisdom is even harder than proving why they repel fish in the first place - here are three commonly accepted stories about why you should NEVER take a banana on a boat.

The Banana Traders

Back in the 1700's, Caribbean sailors were trading bananas from the islands by sailing boats. In order to get the fruit to their customers in a half-decent condition, they had to sail as fast as possible. Now as an angler, you know two things about going fast. The first is that you'll never catch any fish while trolling fast, hence the boats with bananas on board, never caught any fish!

Banana boats always sink

The second thing about going fast in a boat, especially a sailing boat built in the 1700's, is that they're more likely to break up at sea. While pushing the limits of their craft trying to get bananas to new destinations, sailors were often lost at sea. Hence the thought that boats carrying bananas are more likely to sink!

Disease and spider bites.

Again, from back in the early days where sailors used to pick up crates of Bananas when stopping for supplies, the crates were full of nasty critters hiding amongst the bananas. Once at sea, the spiders and snakes escaped, spreading disease amongst the crew.

These are just a few of the common ideas about where it came from, and it's not just fishing boats either! Sailing boats, stand up paddlers and even kiteboarders have taken to the myth!!